Steven Flather - Head of Finance

1. Sustainability Reporting - Turning Principles into PracticeMid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service –A Case Study Steven Flather - Head of Finance

2. Who are we (Who) ? • What is Sustainability (What) ? • How did Mid and West Wales get here (Why) ? • How and What to Report • Types of Data • PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS AND MORE PROBLEMS • Solutions • Offsets • Summary

3. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service • Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Powys and Neath Port Talbot. • Serves about 4,500 square miles, almost 2/3rds of land mass of Wales. • Population served approx 870,000. • HQ in Carmarthen. • Rural and agricultural and urban and Industrial and tourist area and coastline and LNG.

4. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service 2011/12 Net Revenue Budget £43.7 million (A 1.6% reduction from 2010/11 budget) 25 Councillors Approx 1,300 employees: 700 part time Uniformed 400 full time Uniformed 200 support and Control 4

5. What is Sustainability • Sustainable development – meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). • NO SPECIFIC MENTION OF ENVIRONMENT • Three equal pillars : Economic, Social and Environmental, plus Governance and Ethics. • Need to be able to measure and report in a meaningful way.

6. Sustainability (Social, Ethical and Economic) = Well being • All public sector activity could be seen as promoting well being • Reporting on well being or economic and social sustainability should be a fundamental requirement

7. How Did We Get Here A corporate will to act in a sustainable way expressed by the Executive Board Creation of Sustainability and the Environment Group Strategy Document produced in 2009 Department Heads with an interest in sustainability empowered to participate in schemes on behalf of the Service reporting to the Group Appointment of Sustainability Manager to coordinate and assist Department Heads (Particularly Risk and Finance) 7

8. Corporate Risk Department - Green Dragon Environmental Standard, The Strategy, Coordinating, Advising, Data Collection, Transport and Travelling, Green Champions Procurement Department – Sustainable Procurement Assessment Framework (level 3), Open Door Charter Estates Department – Improving estate to include (where budgets allow) energy efficiency improvements, energy tariffs and metering, BREEAM ratings for new builds. Finance Department – Integrated Reporting, A4s (Wales), Carbon Reduction Accounting (not in scope yet) 8

9. Where to Report • In an annually published report with a known publication date • In a report that undergoes an assurance process • In a report that is common to all organisations • In a report where the contents can be standardised and regulated Main Contender - The Annual Statement of Accounts

10. The Problems Begin! What to Collect? • Already a number of slightly differing reporting templates • The Treasury template only records environmental data • Need to standardise a minimum reporting level to ensure correct data collected and allow comparisons • Need to ensure that data to be reported on is collectable (no scope 3!) • Three Pillars – Economic, Social and Environmental, should also include Governance and Ethical issues.

11. If the Annual Statement of Accounts is the home of the integrated sustainability report - should • there be an accounting standard • the Standard Setters, including FRAB and CIPFA/LASAAC, be considering the issue • the Accounting Bodies and LAAP be formulating a preferred template • A4S (Wales) have a role in promoting and advising on a standard

12. Energy Problems

13. 57 Fire stations, many of which are only a little more than garages and not used every day • Six County Command office complexes • A major training complex with accommodation, fleet workshop and stores at Earlswood • Offices in Swansea • HQ campus in Carmarthen • Building new multi agency complex in Llandrindod Wells and new station in the Amman Valley • Major building works are being carried out in Pontardawe

14. Large geographical spread makes collecting energy usage data difficult • Not always staff in buildings to collect data • Started installing smart meters • Appointed Green Champions who can help collect data

15. Trying to reduce energy use • Are working up energy usage budgets for each County Command (not money budget because of impact of estimated meter readings/different tariffs) • Building inspections by Estates, Sustainability Manager and Green Champions • Greening buildings up – upgrading heating systems, trialling pv cells, insulation, water capture systems • New build in Llandrindod Wells is having a “brown” roof

16. Fuel Problems

17. 122 “Red Fleet” vehicles • 95 are “Pumps” similar to the photo (but newer) • 3 are aerial appliances, which are much bigger than the Pumps • The rest are a mixture of rescue appliances and Resilience appliances (Boats, Command Unit, HVPs, a Decontamination Unit etc)

18. Often driven to make progress not to be fuel efficient • Typical fuel consumption for a pump when being driven is 6 mpg, more fuel is used when pumping water • Typical fuel consumption for an ARP 2 to 3 mpg • Asset Management Plan – update the fleet • Review make up of fleet – some second pumps being replaced by Rural Response Units

19. White fleet made up of 125 vehicles in a mixture of cars, vans, mini buses. • Replacement vehicles, where possible, are low emission vehicles • For all Vehicles • Fuel budgets delegated to County Commanders/Department Heads • Hold data for fuel purchased but not for emissions • Unsure of data quality • Introducing tracking system across the fleet (primarily the white fleet)

20. Waste Problems • Try to recycle or sell as much as possible • Do not currently have any system of measuring • A lot of work to do in this area

21. Water Problems • Three types of water • Water used in operations and training • Extracted from hydrants, rivers, lakes ……….. • Not measured or paid for, but • Each pump carries 1,800 litres of water • At max pumping pressure takes 6 minutes to empty a pumping appliance • Should this be reported?

22. Drinking water consumed on the fire ground by Fire Fighters • Should this be reported on • Other water – the same problems as energy with the same solutions

23. Other Reporting Items • Our People and Governance – we already hold data and report in other documents • Suppliers – a lot of work already done on using local SME’s and setting out sustainable procurement policies • Already record and report on compliments and complaints. Looking at ways of assessing service user’s satisfaction

24. SUSTAINABILITY PLUSES • All of the template measures are on consumption • Public Sector promotes well being and improving social and economic sustainability • On emissions we invest to save • Consume some finite resource and emit some carbon dioxide in order to limit emissions from fires and improve social and economic well being • For example

25. Fire - Commercial

26. Fire - Commercial

27. Fire - Domestic

28. Fire - Grass

29. Road Traffic Collision

30. Road Traffic Collision

31. Flood

32. White Water Rescue and Rope Work

33. Community Risk Reduction – Chip Pan

34. Rapid response times have environmental costs • Huge economic, social and environmental benefits • Approx 10% of budget for Community risk reduction • There must be a way of including these benefits to show the true “sustainability worth” of the public sector

35. Nearing the End • Are in the very early stages of reporting • More questions than answers • Problems in data collection • Need to set targets

36. But • We are committed to integrating a Sustainability report into the Statement of accounts • Approaching it in the same way as eating an elephant • Hope to include a partial report in 2011/12 Accounts using data we do have.

37. The Last Slide ……. • Not a summary – but a final plea for the future • There are three equal pillars to sustainability: Economic, Social and Environmental supported by ethics and good governance • Can all the interested parties agree on one common minimum sensible report content? • We need to consider how to report on benefits as well as consumption